Onsite chelate resin solid-phase extraction of rare earth elements in natural water samples; Its implication for studying past redox changes by inorganic geochemistry

Watanabe, Takahiro   ; Kokubu, Yoko   ; Murakami, Hiroaki  ; Iwatsuki, Teruki  

Rare earth element (REE) patterns in natural water and geological samples provides information on changes in past environmental conditions, such as redox changes and material cycles; however, quantitative analysis of REEs in these samples is complicated because of relative low content and mass interference from barium oxide in the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses. In this study, we adopted onsite solid-phase extraction and preconcentration methods for REEs using an iminobisacetic acid-ethylenediaminetriacetic acid chelate resin for the analyses. Standard reference materials, natural ground water, and spring water samples were used for the evaluation of these methods. The REE patterns in the natural water samples were in good agreement with those obtained using previous methods. Therefore, it was deduced that onsite solid-phase extraction using chelate resin is a rapid and simple preparation technique for REE analyses.